LONDONSFIRST

Mauricio Pochettino has a lot to work on after damaging 3-1 loss against West Ham

After a promising start to life at Stamford Bridge, Pochettino’s Chelsea fell short at the London stadium with goals from Paqueta, Antonio and Aguerd inflicting a 3-1 defeat.

Here are my three takeaways from today :

Disasi’s sloppiness costs the Blues :

Grabbing a goal on his debut and looking at home in the premier league against Liverpool, Axel Disasi saw the other side of the coin this time against West Ham.

Tasked with keeping tabs on Michail Antonio, Disasi was kept busy for the duration of the game as Antonio barely let him breathe with West Ham targeting his right hand side as a weak point.

Giving away needless fouls (one earned him a card) and failing to stop Antonio’s strike after originally giving the ball away meant Axel couldn’t build upon his strong showing against Liverpool.

A disappointing show and a concern for the future matches as teams may look to target his surprising lack of physicality.

Trevoh Chalobah, although injured, must be thinking what he did wrong.

Sterling takes responsibility:

A player that often gets criticized by majority of the fan base, Raheem Sterling’s impressive showing against West Ham reminded many of how good Raheem Sterling is.

Winning the most duels (12), completing the most dribbles (6), and winning 5 fouls, Sterling provided an impressive display despite the result.

Driving with the ball and beating players, Sterling created decent chances which on a good day could’ve been converted with Mudryk being a culprit for one good chance off a Sterling cross.

Many will be hoping Sterling continues his good form as Chelsea seek to bounce back.

Rusty Caicedo with a debut to forget :

British record signing Moises Caicedo made his debut in the defeat, coming on for Chilwell on the 61st minute.

Playing as the lone Defensive Midfielder, Caicedo seemed really rusty as he got outmuscled and outpaced a couple of times with Paqueta especially enjoying a one V one duel with Caicedo.

With just a couple more minutes left to go and West Ham leading, Caicedo’s rustiness became really evident as he lunged into a needless tackle in the box and fouled Emerson for Paqueta to kill the game off with a well taken penalty.

It’s only his first game for Chelsea but surely the pressure is on Caicedo now to perform and Chelsea to get back on track.

Man of the Match – Raheem Sterling 8/10.

Next up for Chelsea is Luton Town next Friday in an early season must win game for confidence.

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